Page 29 of Obsession

This is a front. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Let’s sit at the bar,” I suggest, gesturing toward the bar.

“Sure thing, baby.”

God!He’s really pushing this. I make gagging motions with my finger down my throat, then slice my hand in the air in front of me.Stop!

He mouths, “Nope.”

Argh!

I hop up on a bar stool, but he shakes his head at me. “Scoot over.”

“You wanna sit here?”

“I do,” he says through tight lips. He’s the boss, and he has his reasons, so I move to the left and let him take the seat I was in. “I can see all exits this way.”

I’d be pleased if I felt he’d made this move to protect me, but I don’t romanticize shit.

The bartender, a thin, kinda young ginger with a scraggly beard and piercings all along each ear and his eyebrow welcomes us. “Can I get you two a drink?”

His eyes linger a little longer on Cain. He recognizes him, I think. Hard to forget a guy like him.

“Soda water with lemon,” I order. Cain gets a soda.

“I know you,” the bartender says to Cain when he hands us our drinks. Bingo.

“Yeah?” Cain takes a sip of his drink and places it back on the counter. His eyes flit over my shoulder, scanning the entrance, before he looks back at the bartender. He folds his arms across his chest, and his muscles bulge. I don’t know if he’s trying to intimidate him on purpose, but the bartender takes a step back. “How do you know me?”

“On second thought, not sure I do. You remind me of someone.”

He turns to walk away.

“He’s Skylar’s brother,” I say loudly enough to get his attention. “Do you know her?” I keep a close eye on the people watching us. Does anyone look guilty? Curious? Does anyone know her?

Cain shoots his eyes to me, the quickest glance. I pull out my phone and open up a picture of her.

“We’re actually looking for her,” I say casually. “Have you seen her recently?”

The bartender wipes down condensation from my glass, then slides it over to me as my phone beeps. “Haven’t seen her.”

He doesn’t make eye contact, though, and as soon as someone else comes to the bar, he walks away from us to take their order.

“He’s lying and avoiding us.” I sip my soda and check my phone.

“Agreed. The question is, why?”

There’s a string of texts from Candi.

Where are you? No one’s seen you at work and you never miss.

I’m doing a job. I can’t tell you any more right now.

Are you safe?

I look at Cain. Am I safe? Hell no, I’m not safe. But he’s likely not going to hurt me in the next few minutes, so I can lie for now. I have to.

Yes.

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